17 tales of real women and unreal worlds.

Speculative fiction stories about female characters who are strong in many different ways. There may be futuristic or fantastic settings, but one thing remains the same: resourceful, resilient women who are committed to doing what is needed, no matter what the cost.

• Cherith Baldry, “Star Bright”
• Jenny Blackford, “The Sorrow”
• Kay Chronister, “Dustbowl”
• Stephanie Gunn, “Broken Glass”
• Kathryn Hore, “Generation Zero”
• Kathleen Jennings, “A Hedge of Yellow Roses”
• Faith Mudge, “Blueblood”
• T R Napper, “The Silica Key”
• Rivqa Rafael, “Function A:save(target.Dawn)”
• Alter S. Reiss, “Catalysis”
• Jane Routley, “Barista”
• Cat Sparks, “Veteran’s Day”
• Kyla Ward, “Cursebreaker: The Mutalibeen and the Memphite Mummies”
• Marlee Jane Ward, “Clara’s”
• Susan Wardle, “A Truck Called Remembrance”
• Janeen Webb, “A Wondrous Necessary Woman”
• Eleanor R Wood, “The Fruits of Revolution”

Sixteen tales to put the steamy back into steampunk.

• Marilag Angway, “Smuggler’s Deal”
• Cherith Baldry, “The Venetian Cat”
• Gio Clairval, “The Writing Cembalo”
• M L D Curelas, “Ironclad”
• Ray Dean, “Practically Perfect”
• Stephanie Gunn, “Escapement”
• Richard Harland, “The Kiss of Reba Maul”
• Rebecca Harwell, “Love in the Time of Clockwork Horses”
• Faith Mudge, “Descension”
• Nicole Murphy, “The Wild Colonial Clockwork Boy”
• Katrina Nicholson, “Lady Presto Magnifico and the Disappearing Glass Ceiling”
• Anthony Panegyres, “The Tic-Toc Boy of Constantinople”
• Amanda Pillar, “A Clockwork Heart”
• Angela Rega, “The Law of Love”
• Carol Ryles, “Siri and the Chaos-Maker”
• DC White, “South, to Glory”

Scheherazade’s One Thousand and One Nights stories have captured imaginations for a millennia. Fairy tales and fables abound, telling of the fantastic and mysterious, the comic and dramatic.

This anthology explores romantic Orientalism through a speculative fiction lens. You might find lost cities, magical lamps, mummies, thieves, intrepid explorers, slaves, robotic horsemen, noble queens, sorcerers, outcast princes, harems, dancers, djinn, assassins and even smart-talking camels and cats, set in exotic Persia, Egypt, Arabia, the Ottoman Empire, or a modern incarnation of these.

• Marilag Angway “Shadow Dancer”
• Cherith Baldry “The Green Rose”
• Alan Baxter “On A Crooked Leg Lightly”
• Jenny Blackford “The Quiet Realm of the Dark Queen”
• Jetse de Vries “Djinni Djinni Dream Dream”
• Thoraiya Dyer “The Saint George Hotel”
• Joshua Gage “The Dancer of Smoke”
• Richard Harland “The Tale of the Arrow Girl”
• Faith Mudge “The Oblivion Box”
• Havva Murat “Harmony Thicket and the Persian Shoes”
• Charlotte Nash “Parvaz”
• Anthony Panegyres “Oleander: An Ottoman Tale”
• Dan Rabarts “Silver, Sharp as Silk”
• Angela Rega “The Belly Dancing Crimes of Ms Sahara Desserts”
• Jenny Schwartz “The Pearl Flower Harvest”
• Barb Siples “The Sultan’s Debt”
• Pia Van Ravestein “Street Dancer”
• DC White “A Dash of Djinn and Tonic”

In the third volume of this award-winning series, editors Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene have compiled an impressive list of fantastic stories first published in 2012, from New Zealand’s and Australia’s finest writers.

The 34 stories selected are

• Joanne Anderton, “Tied To The Waste”, Tales Of Talisman
• R.J. Astruc, “The Cook of Pearl House, A Malay Sailor by the Name of Maurice”, Dark Edifice 2
• Lee Battersby, “Comfort Ghost”, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine 56
• Alan Baxter, “Tiny Lives”, Daily Science Fiction
• Jenny Blackford, “A Moveable Feast”, Bloodstones
• Eddy Burger, “The Witch’s Wardrobe”, Dark Edifice 3
• Isobelle Carmody, “The Stone Witch”, Under My Hat
• Jay Caselberg, “Beautiful”, The Washington Pastime
• Stephen Dedman, “The Fall”, Exotic Gothic 4, Postscripts
• Felicity Dowker, “To Wish On A Clockwork Heart”, Bread And Circuses
• Terry Dowling, “Nightside Eye”, Cemetary Dance
• Tom Dullemond, “Population Management”, Danse Macabre
• Thoraiya Dyer, “Sleeping Beauty”, Epilogue
• Will Elliot, “Hungry Man”, The One That Got Away
• Jason Fischer, “Pigroot Flat”, Midnight Echo 8
• Dirk Flinthart, “The Bull In Winter”, Bloodstones
• Lisa L. Hannett, “Sweet Subtleties”, Clarkesworld
• Lisa L. Hannett & Angela Slatter, “Bella Beaufort Goes To War”, Midnight And Moonshine
• Narrelle M. Harris, “Stalemate”, Showtime
• Kathleen Jennings, “Kindling”, Light Touch Paper, Stand Clear
• Gary Kemble, “Saturday Night at the Milkbar”, Midnight Echo 7
• Margo Lanagan, “Crow And Caper, Caper And Crow”, Under My Hat
• Martin Livings, “You Ain’t Heard Nothing Yet”, Living With The Dead
• Penelope Love, “A Small Bad Thing”, Bloodstones
• Andrew J. McKiernan, “Torch Song”, From Stage Door Shadows
• Karen Maric, “Anvil Of The Sun”, Aurealis
• Faith Mudge, “Oracle’s Tower”, To Spin A Darker Stair
• Nicole Murphy, “The Black Star Killer”, Damnation And Dames
• Jason Nahrung, “The Last Boat To Eden”, Surviving The End
• Tansy Rayner Roberts, “What Books Survive”, Epilogue
• Angela Slatter, “Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean”, This Is Horror Webzine
• Anna Tambour, “The Dog Who Wished He’d Never Heard Of Lovecraft”, Lovecraft Zine
• Kyla Ward, “The Loquacious Cadaver”, The Lion And The Aardvark: Aesop’s Modern Fables
• Kaaron Warren, “River Of Memory”, Zombies Vs. Robots

In the fourth volume of this award-winning series, editors Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene have compiled an impressive list of fantastic stories first published in 2013, from New Zealand’s and Australia’s finest writers.

The 28 stories selected are

• Lee Battersby, “Disciple of the Torrent”, Tales of Australia: Great Southern Land
• Deborah Biancotti, “All the Lost Ones”, Exotic Gothic 5 Vol I
• Trudi Canavan, “Camp Follower”, Fearsome Journeys
• Robert Cook, “Glasskin”, Review of Australian Fiction Vol 5 #6
• Rowena Cory Daniells, “The Ways of the Wyrding Women”, One Small Step
• Terry Dowling, “The Sleepover”, Exotic Gothic 5 Vol II
• Thoraiya Dyer, “After Hours”, Asymmetry
• Marion Halligan, “A Castle in Toorak”, Griffith Review #42
• Dmetri Kakmi, “The Boy by the Gate”, The New Gothic
• David Kernot, “Harry’s Dead Poodle”, Cover of Darkness Magazine
• Margo Lanagan, “Black Swan Event”, Griffith Review #42
• S. G. Larner, “Poppies”, Aurealis #65
• Martin Livings, “La Mort d’un Roturer”, This is How You Die
• Kirstyn McDermott, “Caution: Contains Small Parts”, Caution: Contains Small Parts
• Claire McKenna, “The Ninety Two”, Next
• C.S. McMullen, “The Nest”, Nightmare Magazine
• Juliet Marillier, “By Bone-Light “, Prickle Moon
• David Thomas Moore, “Old Souls”, The Book of the Dead
• Faith Mudge, “The Oblivion Box”, Dreaming of Djinn
• Ryan O’Neill, “Sticks and Stones”, The Great Unknown
• Angela Rega, “Almost Beautiful”, Next
• Tansy Rayner Roberts, “The Raven and Her Victory”, Where Thy Dark Eye Glances: Queering Edgar Allan Poe
• Nicky Rowlands, “On the Wall”, Next
• Carol Ryles, “The Silence of Clockwork”, Conflux 9 Convention Programme
• Angela Slatter, “Flight”, Once Upon a Time: New Fairy Tales
• Anna Tambour, “Bowfin Island”, Caledonia Dreamin’
• Kaaron Warren, “Born and Bread”, Once Upon a Time: New Fairy Tales
• Janeen Webb, “Hell is Where the Heart is”, Next

In the sixth volume of this award-winning series, editors Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene have compiled an impressive list of fantastic stories first published in 2015, from New Zealand’s and Australia’s finest writers.

The 31 stories selected are

• Joanne Anderton, “2B”
• Alan Baxter, “The Chart of the Vagrant Mariner”
• Deborah Biancotti, “Look How Cold My Hands Are”
• Stephen Dedman, “Oh, Have You Seen The Devil”
• Erol Engin, “The Events at Callan Park”
• Jason Fischer, “The Dog Pit”
• Dirk Flinthart, “In the Blood”
• Kimberley Gaal, “In Sheep’s Clothing”
• Stephanie Gunn, “The Flowers That Bloom Where Blood Touches Earth”
• Lisa Hannett, “Consorting With Filth”
• Robert Hood, “Double Speak”
• Kathleen Jennings, “A Hedge of Yellow Roses”
• Maree Kimberley, “Ninehearts”
• Jay Kristoff, “Sleepless”
• Martin Livings, “El Caballo Muerte”
• Danny Lovecraft, “Reminiscences of Herbert West”
• Kirstyn McDermott, “Self, Contained”
• Sally McLennan, “ Mr Schmidt’s Dead Pet Emporium”
• DK Mok, “Almost Days”
• Faith Mudge, “Blueblood”
• Samantha Murray, “Half Past”
• Jason Nahrung, “Night Blooming”
• Garth Nix, “The Company of Women”
• Anthony Panegyres, “Lady Killer”
• Rivqa Rafael, “Beyond the Factory Wall”
• Deborah Sheldon, “Perfect Little Stitches”
• Angela Slatter, “Bluebeard’s Daughter”
• Cat Sparks, “Dragon Girl”
• Lucy Sussex, “Angelito”
• Anna Tambour, “Tap”
• Kaaron Warren, “Mine Intercom”

In the fifth volume of this award-winning series, editors Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene have compiled an impressive list of fantastic stories first published in 2014, from New Zealand’s and Australia’s finest writers.

The 28 stories selected are

• Alan Baxter, “Shadows of the Lonely Dead” [Suspended in Dusk]
• James Bradley, “The Changeling” [Fearsome Magics]
• Imogen Cassidy, “Soul Partner” [Aurealis 74]
• David Conyers & David Kernot, “The Bullet & The Flesh” [World War Cthulhu]
• Terry Dowling, “The Corpse Rose” [Nightmare Carnival]
• Thoraiya Dyer, “The Oud” [Long Hidden Anthology]
• Jason Franks, “Metempsychosis” [SQ Mag]
• Michelle Goldsmith, “Of Gold and Dust” [Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine 60]
• Michael Grey, “1884” [Cthulhu Lives: An Eldrich Tribute to H.P.Lovecraft]
• Stephanie Gunn, “Escapement” [Kisses by Clockwork]
• Lisa L. Hannett & Angela Slatter, “Vox” [The Female Factory]
• Gerry Huntman, “Of The Colour Tumeric, Climbing on Fingertips” [Night Terrors III]
• Rick Kennett, “Dolls for Another Day” [The Ghosts & Scholars Book of Shadows: Vol 2]
• Charlotte Kieft, “Chiaroscuro” [Disquiet]
• SG Larner, “Kneaded” [Phantazein]
• Claire McKenna, “Yard” [Use Only As Directed]
• Andrew J. McKiernan, “A Prayer for Lazarus” [Last Year, When We Were Young]
• Faith Mudge, “Signature” [Kaleidoscope: Diverse YA Science Fi]
• Jason Nahrung, “The Preservation Society” [Dimension6]
• Emma Osborne, “The Box Wife” [Shock Totem: Curious Tales of the Macabre & Twisted #9]
• Angela Rega, “Shedding Skin” [Crossed Genres]
• Tansy Rayner Roberts, “The Love Letters of Swans” [Phantazein]
• Angela Slatter, “The Badger Bride” [Strange Tales IV]
• Cat Sparks, “New Chronicles of Andras Thorn” [Dimension6 Annual Collection 2014]
• Anna Tambour, “The Walking-stick Forest” [Tor.com]
• Kyla Ward, “Necromancy” [Spectral Realms #1]
• Kaaron Warren, “Bridge of Sighs” [Fearful Symmetries: An Anthology of Horror]
• Janeen Webb, “Lady of the Swamp” [Death at the Blue Elephant]